Category: Evil

Five Big Lies

10/30/2012

The devil began his deception with himself, thinking he could and should be elevated above God. Then the devil lied to a group of angels and got their cooperation to revolt against God. Those fallen angels turned their allegiance to God over and have been enemies of God ever since. The final group that the devil is deceiving is humankind.

Five big lies that the devil tries to make us believe:
Big lie #1: He has as much or almost as much power and ability as God.
Truth is: He does not. The devil was created by God and will forever be subject to Him.

Big lie #2: He can read our minds.
Truth is: He cannot. The devil is not all-powerful, all-knowing or able to be everywhere at one time; only God is.

Big lie #3: Your sin is worse than other people.
Truth is: It is not. ALL have sinned and every sin separates us from God who is holy and pure.

Big lie #4: You get to heaven if you do more good things than bad things.
Truth is: You can never be perfect or holy like God by working. God did the work through the death of His Son Jesus. Your salvation is a gift from God.

Big lie #5: You have sinned and asked to be forgiven too many times; God is done forgiving you.
Truth is: He is not. When you trusted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, He forgave all of your past sins, all your present sins, and all your future sins.

Jesus told those who believed in Him that the truth would free them from the lies of the devil.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

What big lie is harder for you to treat as false?

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Not Everyone Likes You and One Hates You

9/12/2012

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The anniversary of 9/11 reminds us as a nation that there are countries and people that hate us. Not everybody loves the USA and eleven years ago woke us up to that fact. It does not matter what our skin color is, what our gender or age is, or even where our family originated. All that matters to those who hate the USA is that we are an American citizen.

In a similar manner, we naively go through life unaware that not everyone loves or likes us. There is even a person who hates us and is out to destory us. Yes, destroy all those who proclaim Jesus Chrsit as their Lord and Savior. It does not matter what country you are from, what your nationality is, or what gender you are. All that matters is that you are a citizen of the kingdom of God, a Christian.

John 10:7-10
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus came to give life and the thief, the devil, came to destroy life.If you are a Christian, this does not mean that you need to live in fear or hide in a bunker. It does help make sense of senseless things that go on in our world. Bad things can happen to good people because of the devil's work to steal and destroy. The good news is that God is vastly superior to the devil and His love for you wins over the devil's hate.

1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

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3 Spiritual Lessons from the Poison Oak Patch

7/12/2012

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My son was getting ready for a special gathering at his place and wanted some help with lawn mowing. It was a windy, hot day, so I was sporting shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. He had trimmed under some of his pine trees and I mowed what must have been poison oak. The wet, chopped up leaves brought an itchy rash to every area of my skin that was exposed.

Lesson learned. I will take much better precautions next time.

The Bible describes a life that is lived away from God is like poison oak or ivy growing in us:
Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Here are three spiritual lessons I learned from the poison oak patch:
1.       Knowledge would have prevented much of the contamination. Knowing that our adversary, the devil, is a tempter and cares little about our well-being can prevent us from his contamination.
2.       Coverage would have brought protection. There is spiritual armor that you must put on each day to protect you from poisonous attacks and infections.
3.       Don’t itch. When you get the itch to do something wrong, don’t itch! Itching spreads the infection and keeps healing from happening.

Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

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Amy Senser and Sin

5/7/2012

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The trial of Amy Senser was not a question of whether she struck and killed Anousone Phathavong. The question was whether she knew that she struck him.
What went on that night?

Perhaps it was confusion, a raging headache, construction cones, and there was nothing to admit or confess because of innocence. Perhaps it was confusion, substance use, seeing a person hit, and a force pressed against Senser from admitting responsibility because of guilt. The jury found Amy Senser guilty of knowing she hit a person and leaving the scene.

We all have experienced that force causing us not to be truthful. One snowy morning I passed a car on my way to high school. After passing, I saw the car spin out and go into the ditch. I turned around and discovered it was a classmate of mine who was not hurt, her car was not damaged, just stuck. She was very appreciative of my stopping and helping. She explained that this “idiot” driver passed her, momentarily blinding her in a swirl of snow, she could not see the road and went into the ditch. I struggled with a force compelling me not to admit I was the “idiot” who passed her. If I was truthful, I would move from being the hero helping to the idiot causing.

While farming with my father I was sorting heifers in the cattle shed. I controlled the crowding herd with a broken fork handle minus the tines. I struck one heifer on the head and to my shock, she dropped dead. A force pressed upon me not to be truthful to my father.

The bible describes this force as sin. Sin is anything that is against God. The struggle to be truthful and take responsibility is not just against a jury, a classmate or parents, it is against God. Sin occurs whenever a wrong desire becomes an action.

James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

I told tell my classmate that I was the “idiot” who caused her to go into the ditch and that I was sorry. Jesus gave me victory over sin and my classmate gave me forgiveness for my carelessness.

My father passed away without ever knowing what caused the death of that 500 lb. healthy heifer. My desire gave birth to the sin of dishonesty and deception. I cannot confess to my father, but have confessed to God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Victory for Amy Senser, myself and for you over the force of sin is through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:56-57 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How does Jesus give you victory throughout your day?
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Devil - Real or Imagined?

4/19/2012

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My wife and I meet each week with a group of Christians committed to growing in our faith and actions. We call these small groups in our church “Life Groups”, because they promote growing together in life. We are going through the ALPHA course, which is a practical introduction to the Christian faith. The subject this week was about evil.

ALPHA presenter, Nicky Gumbel, shared verses from the Bible which speaks about evil. Each one of us in our Life Group agrees with their understanding that there is a real devil, who with his demonic helpers goes about trying to bring destruction on our lives. The Bible tells us that the devil in the form of a serpent tempted Eve and Adam. Their disobedience made a sin stain on the human race that remains to this day.

Jesus came to break that power of sin over people. Jesus and His disciples demonstrated this power when demons were cast out of people. Some consider this either symbolic or that those events happened during Jesus’ time on earth, but no longer happens today. Each of us in our Life Group agrees with those who believe this literally happened during Jesus’ time and is still happening in our world today.

Each time that I have traveled into other countries, I have witnessed demonic activity and have seen God’s power over demons setting people free. The devil’s activity is just as active in the United States, however, it is in the subtle forms of greed, pride, worry, and numerous other actions that do not represent actions from God.

Some Christians place too much focus on the devil and his activities. The Bible tells us that our power over the devil comes by living our lives under the control of God and resisting the devil.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

How do you see the power of God evidenced over the devil on our world today?
Comment here.

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Five Big Lies

Not Everyone Likes You and One Hates You

3 Spiritual Lessons from the Poison Oak Patch

Amy Senser and Sin

Devil - Real or Imagined?

Mark Radeke

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